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Pizza Bianca

The Roman version of pizza has a crisp but extraordinarily chewy crust, and it's so good on its own that it's usually topped with just olive oil, rosemary, and kosher salt. The challenge of devising a pizza bianca recipe for the home cook was to figure out how to handle the super-hydrated dough. Forming the dough required both a 20-minute resting time and 10 minutes of machine kneading at high speed. Rather than rolling it, we pressed the dough onto a baking sheet and placed the sheet on top of a preheated pizza stone on the middle rack of a 450-degree oven. Following these steps gave us a superbly crisp, chewy crust. Serve the pizza by itself as a snack or with soup or salad for a light meal.
Servings: 8
Author: America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients

Dough

  • 15 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour 3 cups
  • 13 ½ ounces water 1 ⅔ cups, room temperature
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons table salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons sugar
  • 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary whole leaves

Variation 1: with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

Toppings

  • 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese 6 ounces

Sauce

  • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ⅛ teaspoon table salt

Variation 2: with Caramelized Onions and Gruyere

Toppings

  • 8 ounces Gruyère cheese shredded (about 2 cups)
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves

Caramelized Onions

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • ½ teaspoon table salt
  • 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
  • 2 pounds onions 4 medium, halved pole to pole, peeled, and sliced ¼ inch thick across the grain
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • Ground black pepper

Instructions

Hydrate the flour

  • Place towel or shelf liner beneath stand mixer to prevent wobbling.
  • Mix flour, water, and table salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of the bowl.
  • Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest 20 minutes.

Knead the dough

  • Sprinkle yeast and sugar over the dough.
  • Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of the bowl.
  • Increase mixer speed to high and knead until the dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of the bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while the mixer is on. When the mixer is off, the dough will fall back to the sides.)

Let it rise

  • Using fingers, coat a large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto the blade of a rubber spatula. Using the oiled spatula, transfer the dough to the bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over the top.
  • Flip the dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap.
  • Let the dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. (Dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Bring dough to room temperature, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, before proceeding with step 4.)

Prepare the oven

  • One hour before baking pizza, adjust the oven rack to the middle position, place a pizza stone on the rack, and heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Variation 1: Make the sauce

  • Place 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes in fine-mesh strainer set over a medium bowl.
  • Let sit for 30 minutes, stirring 3 times to allow juices to drain.
  • Combine 3/4 cup tomato solids, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/8 teaspoon table salt. (Save remaining solids and juice for another use.)

Variation 2:

    Make the caramelized onions:

    • Heat butter and oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat.
    • When foam subsides, stir in salt and sugar.
    • Add onions and stir to coat; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to soften and release some moisture, about 5 minutes.
    • Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are deeply browned and slightly sticky, about 40 minutes longer. (If onions are sizzling or scorching, reduce heat. If onions are not browning after 15 to 20 minutes, raise the heat.)
    • Off heat, stir in water; season to taste with pepper.
    • Transfer to a large plate and cool to room temperature.

    Form the pizza

    • Coat a rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil.
    • Using an oiled rubber spatula, turn the dough out onto the baking sheet along with any oil in the bowl.
    • Using fingertips, press dough out toward the edges of the pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snugly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.)
    • Let the dough rest in the pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.
    • Using a dinner fork, poke the surface of the dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

    Bake and serve (note alternate baking instructions for variations 1 and 2 below)

    • Bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes, sprinkling rosemary over top and rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.
    • Using a metal spatula, transfer the pizza to a cutting board.
    • Brush dough lightly with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
    • Slice and serve immediately.

    Bake (variation 1)

    • Bake until spotty brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.
    • Using a metal spatula, remove the pizza from the oven, spread tomato mixture evenly over the surface, and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
    • Return the pizza to the oven and continue to bake until cheese begins to brown in spots, 5 to 10 minutes longer.

    Bake (variation 2)

    • Bake until spotty brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.
    • Remove the pizza from the oven, spread the onions evenly over the surface, and sprinkle with Gruyère and thyme.
    • Return the pizza to the oven and continue to bake until cheese begins to brown in spots, 5 to 10 minutes longer.

    Notes

    • Once the dough has been placed in the oiled bowl, it can be transferred to the refrigerator and kept for up to 24 hours. Bring the dough to room temperature, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, before proceeding with step 4.
    • When kneading the dough on high speed, the mixer tends to wobble and move on the counter. Place a towel or shelf liner under the mixer and watch it at all times during mixing.
    • Handle the dough with slightly oiled hands. Resist flouring your fingers or the dough might stick.
    • This recipe was developed using an 18- by 13-inch baking sheet. Smaller baking sheets can be used, but because the pizza will be thicker, baking times will be longer.
    • If not using a pizza stone, increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees and set the rack to the lowest position; the cooking time might increase by 3 to 5 minutes and the exterior won’t be as crisp.